A few years ago, Parkland played mostly smash-mouth football, running the ball over opponents in wing-T type formations. Over the past few seasons, with a dynamic quarterback under center, the Trojans have been using a spread read-option look.

But last Friday night saw a return to the running attack with speedster Nolan Ridgway. He ran for 175 yards on 30 carries, scoring on a 39-yard dash around the left end on the Trojans' third play from scrimmage, and Parkland withheld Liberty 31-10 at Parkland School District Stadium.

It was a performance his team needed in a game it needed badly too, after a tough loss to Whitehall the week before, and with a showdown against Easton to come.

"We knew he could do this for us," said head coach Jim Morgans. "He's also a receiver, a backup quarterback, a corner back, and is our long snapper. He's just a good athlete."

Leading up to the Liberty game, Ridgway was informed he might be needed to contribute more as a running back, a position in which he hadn't been used much this season.

"Coach said that he wanted some explosion and some speed back there, so he put me in the backfield," Ridgway said. "I hit a lot of holes that my offensive line broke for me. They played great, and that helped me a lot."

Junior quarterback Devante Cross ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another, completing it to Jarey Elder.

Parkland (5-1) also came up big on defense and in the turnover margin.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference's top passer, Doug Erney, was held to 12 completions for 143 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted three times. Two of the picks were by Anthony Pagliaro and another came from Kenny Yeboah. Erik DiGirolamo recovered a fumble inside Parkland's 20-yard line, which set up a field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half.

The Trojans needed to stay strong, as they were up by only a touchdown at halftime, 17-10. But Cross's two touchdowns, one in each quarter, was just enough to take down Liberty.

One thing the coaches took away from this one was the amount of penalties that hurt the Trojans on both sides of the ball. Parkland was penalized 13 times for 103 yards.

"I couldn't believe it," said Morgans. "If they were aggressive penalties, I could live with them. But I can't live with unforced errors. I won't complain about the officials. Most of the calls that I saw were right on."

Now Parkland has its eyes set on winning against an unbeaten Easton team next Friday night, on homecoming.